Walkway Over the Hudson chorus line participants fall short of world record

An aerial view of the chorus line participants on the Walkway Over the Hudson (Photo provided)

Nearly 1,300 people donning "I Love NY" T-shirts fell short of setting a world record for the longest chorus line on Saturday but still enjoyed a beautiful spring day high above the Hudson River, according to organizers of the event.

The event on the Walkway Over the Hudson aimed to break the record set in 2004 by 1,628 people at El Dorado Park in Long Beach, Calif.

"It was incredible to see so many happy people come together to show how much they love New York and the Walkway today," Walkway Executive Director Elizabeth Waldstein-Hart said in a prepared statement. "The Walkway is about doing big things and bringing people together."

Just under a year ago, in June 2012, 2,569 people did the Hokey Pokey on the Walkway, setting the Guinness World Record for the longest line of dancers performing the same dance.

Advertisement

Saturday's chorus line routine was choreographed by Livia Vanaver, co-founder of the Vanaver Caravan dance troupe in Rosendale, to the tune of the state promotional song "I Love New York."

The event, for which participants paid $15 apiece, was both a fundraiser for the Walkway and a tourism promotion for the state.

The Walkway, on a former railroad trestle linking Highland and Poughkeepsie, opened as a pedestrian park in the fall of 2009 and now is operated as a state park.